


I'm Coming Home

by KisaraMoriarty777



Series: Tell Me What You're Scared Of (TMA Series) [4]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Dark Past, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Possibly Unrequited Love, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26169454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KisaraMoriarty777/pseuds/KisaraMoriarty777
Summary: Mike Crew meets a new person while on a walk home, and finds that he has quite a lot in common with this young man. Maybe more so than he thought at first
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas, Mike Crew/Gerard Keay
Series: Tell Me What You're Scared Of (TMA Series) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894333
Kudos: 10





	I'm Coming Home

Mike Crew wandered the freezing London streets as the snow fell heavily onto his bright blue jacket. He pulled the jacket closer to him in a feeble attempt to shield himself from the bitter air. He had been returning from his monthly meeting with Oliver Banks and The Distortion, but the Distortion had not bothered to drop him off at his house, instead of leaving him in the middle of a bustling London street. He knew it was simply because the Distortion had been excited and had not really focused on where he was leaving Mike, but that did not make Mike any less cold and lonely.

As he wandered, he saw a book thrown away on the side of the street. It was hidden beneath a pile of snow, but still visible a little bit as the top corner of the book pierced the blanket of snow. It seemed to be reaching out, begging for someone to help it. Mike walked over to it and picked it up, only to immediately drop it once he had gotten a better look at the book.

Mike Crew was no stranger to magical and cursed books. He had seen his fair share of Leitner's works, and while this was not a Leitner, he felt the energy and power radiating off of it. Felt the pain and suffering the oozed off it like an infection. He was about to abandon the book when he saw what page it had fallen onto. It was the page of a young man by the name of Gerard Keay.

“There was almost sadness in her eyes. He felt himself begin to slip, the icy certainty of what was happening seeping through his flesh, and as he fell away for the final time, he felt that all-consuming fear. And his only thought was to cry out for his mother. But with the last vestige of his stubborn will, he refused. _She_ would not claim his last moment. He was silent. And so, Gerard Keay ended…” read Mike Crew. He was not quite sure why he was drawn to this page, nor why he read it aloud, but he did so anyhow. He read and read until the end of the page, and then he stood there. Silent, cold, and damp from the snow that was melting onto him. He snapped out of his trance state and was about to leave when he saw a young man standing there.

The young man was dressed in a dark leather coat. He had black hair, though it was very clear he had attempted to dye it that color. He had many tattoos of eyes that seemed to cover the majority of his arms and neck. He was wearing a black t-shirt, though he did not seem to be affected at all by the cold. He offered Mike a small smile.

“So… what do you want?” the strange man asked. Mike raised an eyebrow at this.

“Want?” he asked back. The strange man nodded his head.

“Yes. What do you want? I mean, you read my page, right? You must have read it to ask for something. Answers? Knowledge? Some insane power I actually can’t grant you?” inquired the strange man.

“The… book?” stammered Mike. “Oh!” he gasped, looking back to the book he had dropped on the ground. He whipped back around to stare at the strange man who seemed much less strange now. “You are Gerard Keay?” questioned Mike. The man – Gerard – nodded.

“Yeah. That would be me. But I’d appreciate it if you called me ‘Gerry’ instead. My mother used to call me Gerard,” he informed Mike.

“Right. I will make sure to keep that in mind,” Mike assured him.

“So, what is it you want? I mean, you called me here for something, right?” Gerry repeated. Mike hesitated but shook his head.

“No. I just… read the book,” admitted Mike with a blush. Gerry raised an eyebrow at this.

“You just read it? No rhyme or reason? Just picked up a book about the dead and thought it would be a cheery little read,” Gerry sassed. Mike shook his head again at this.

“No. It wasn’t like that. It was more like…” Mike began, but something in Gerry’s eyes lit up and he groaned.

“Like something compelled you to read it. Like some tiny unseen strings were making you say the words like some sort of puppet?” Gerry cut in. Mike nodded.

“Yes! Exactly!” he exclaimed. Gerry let out another groan of annoyance.

“Bloody Web! Always sticking their nose in other people’s business! This is the fifth time this month they’ve done this!” growled Gerry.

“The Web? Seriously?” said Mike with confusion. He had not had too many run-ins with the Web or its avatars, but last he heard, they were not really the sort to randomly force people to read books. At least, not ones that were not their own books.

“Yeah. They…” began Gerry, but he then looked away. “You know, it doesn’t really matter…” mumbled Gerry, but it was too late. Mike’s interest was peaked, and he was not about to let Gerry off without an explanation.

“They what? What do they want out of this?” persisted Mike.

“Look. If you want to have a nice little chat, let’s get out of here. Somewhere warmer,” Gerry suggested.

“Why? Are you cold?” Mike worried. Gerry laughed at this.

“I’m dead. We don’t really get cold. Not more cold than normal, but ain’t nothing I can do about that sort of cold. I more meant for you, actually. You haven’t stopped shivering since… well, I got here,” Gerry pointed out. Mike blushed deeply at this. In his confusion and excitement over the whole situation, he had forgotten that he was cold. It seemed though that his body had not, for when Gerry brought this up, he felt the bitter air sting him once more and realized that he had, in fact, been shivering.

“My house is a couple of blocks from here. We could walk there,” offered Mike. Gerry nodded at this, and the two began the journey to Mike’s house.

When they arrived there, Mike showed Gerry around and gave him a small tour of the house. It was a one-story house with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a decent-sized living room. He had originally wanted to get a house with one bedroom and one bathroom, but Simon had started staying over when he was in the area, so Mike had had to get a house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. After they had finished the tour, Mike and Gerry sat down on the couch in the living room.

“Do you want anything to eat or drink?” asked Mike, to which Gerry began laughing.

“Can’t eat or drink, but thanks,” Gerry replied through his laughter. Mike blushed again at this.

“R… right. Sorry,” stuttered a very embarrassed Mike. He then looked down. “Does it… hurt? Being in that book, I mean,” questioned Mike. Gerry froze at this and looked down too.

“Kind of, yeah. I hate it in there. I mean, it isn’t all sunshine and roses when I am out here, but… at least it is better than in the book. I never want it, you know. I never wanted to be a part of the book. I just wanted to be free after. Not trapped. I was so trapped when I was alive. Trapped by my mother. Then trapped by the Institute. Now… now I am trapped in the book and worst of all, the person who did this to me was someone I trusted. Someone I cared about,” Gerry shared. He had tears in his eyes and Mike felt the urge to offer him a tissue, though he knew it would likely not help due to Gerry’s circumstances. “I think that is why the Web is trying to help me out. A middle old middle finger to the Eye and the End. A way for them to stick it to Gertrude and probably Mary. I mean, they are dead, but still… I think the Web sees it as a way to mess with those two entities,” Gerry added.

“Wait. Gertrude did that to you?” Mike gasped. Gerry nodded.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“I have a friend who knew Gertrude,” Mike told him. Gerry gave a sad smile at this.

“This friend… their name isn’t Michael, is it?” Gerry asked. Mike nodded with wide eyes.

“Yeah! It is! Did you know him?” Mike questioned. Gerry had a look of nostalgia on his face.

“Yes. I did. Michael and I… we were pretty close. Then one day… he went on a mission with Gertrude and never came back. She told me he had died fighting the Spiral, and that she barely escaped with her life. Is he alive then?!” Gerry exclaimed. Mike bit his lip.

“Michael didn’t die fighting the Spiral, Gerry. Gertrude… she tricked him. She used him to stop the ritual and… he is… he is part of the Distortion now. I don’t know if any part of the old Michael is still alive. I’m so sorry,” Mike explained. Gerry began laughing softly. It was a sound that broke Mike’s heart like glass. It was a sound of pure sadness.

“Stupid Michael. He should have gotten out of there. He should have run away. Gotten away from her. We both should have. I should have,” Gerry began, sobbing and laughing at the same time. Mike tried to place a hand on his shoulder, but it went right through.

“Gerry. I am truly so sorry about what happened to you,” was all he could manage to say.

“You don’t have to be sorry. It wasn’t your fault,” replied Gerry.

“Still though. I… I am sorry,” repeated Mike. “You didn’t deserve this,” added Mike softly.

“None of us ever do. Even those who seem like they want this line of work didn’t deserve it. They just… were so desperate that they see this life as the only way to survive and the only way to own a part of their own lives. Ironically, I guess,” Gerry whispered.

“Yeah. I… I guess that is true,” thought Mike. He had never really seen it that way before. He always assumed there were only two types of avatars. Those who were willing and those forced into life. Though… now that he thought about it, people probably assumed he was one of the willing instead of the forced. Choosing the Vast simply because of the power and strength it gave him. But that was not the truth at all. He had only been looking for another entity because he had to escape the reach of the Spiral and he could not do it himself. It had been a move of survival… and he wondered now how many of the others felt the same way. Even if they said otherwise, how many of them did it out of survival or desperation? How many were hurting so badly that turning to an entity seemed like their best option?

An idea came into Mike’s head at that moment. Maybe there was nothing they could do now about their situations, but they could make the most of it. Make the most of what they did have, and the connections they had. Sure, they were tied to those dread fears and nobody could change that, but that didn’t mean they could not help each other through it. Well… one entity would not allow for outside help, but that was not the End or the Vast. There was no reason that Mike could not help Gerry, and if he had a shot, he would take it.

“You said it was less painful out of the book, right?” asked Mike. Gerry nodded.

“Yeah. That’s right,” Gerry replied.

“Well, who says I have to send you back right away? Who says you can’t stay here with me for a while? I mean, I have the book, so who says I can’t keep summoning you. Who says you can’t stay at the house and chill? I mean, you’d probably have to deal with Simon from time to time, but it isn’t that bad once you get used to it. He kind of just tells the same tales over and over until you tell him to go to bed,” Mike offered, laughing a little at the last statement.

“Y… you would really do that?” Gerry asked. Mike nodded.

“Yeah. Why not? Plus, I’d like to stick it to the Eye and the End too. I don’t care much for either,” Mike admitted. Gerry laughed at this.

“Well, neither do I! And, having a roommate sounds like a lot of fun. Even if I have to deal with Simon Fairchild sometimes,” Gerry answered. Mike smiled a smile that he had not in quite some time. He brought the book into the spare room and placed it down on the table.

“This can be your room when Simon is not here, and you can take my room when he is. I will take the couch during those times,” offered Mike. Gerry smiled and a few tears rolled down his face.

“Thank you. Thank you so much for this, Mike. It really means the world to me,” Gerry sobbed.

“It is no trouble,” Mike insisted.

“I wish I could hug you right now,” cried Gerry. Mike had been holding back tears, but this broke him and he began to cry as well. 

“I wish I could too,” Mike sobbed. He forced a smile though through his tears. “But that is ok. We don’t have to hug or anything like that. We can just… sit and chat. That will be ok,” Mike countered. Gerry nodded at this.

“Yeah. That would be really nice,” Gerry whispered through broken sobs.

And that was what the two did. They would sit and talk and waste the days away. Time meant little to them, and they would get lost within each other’s eyes. Within their stories and memories. Within their hearts. For Mike, he had found another person he could rely on and trust, and for Gerry, he finally had a place that he could call home.

I wonder if Mike is aware that Gerry is not an avatar of the End, but rather the Eye. Most likely not… but if he did… would he still love him? Would he still care for him? Even if Gerry was an avatar for the entity that Mike hates the second most? I suppose that the answer is yes. After all, he loves the Distortion as well, so I suppose he separates the entity from the avatar. 

Why can’t it be like that with the two of us? Why do you have to follow your entity so strictly? 

Why can’t I move on? 

End Statement 


End file.
